You will not believe this, but LA has a zoo, ZOO. The size of two, perhaps four, huge neighborhood blocks. With an elephant, giraffe, hippo and zebra and loads more. With a glossy-papered map. With several souvenir stores that sell souvenir shirts and stuffed toys and keychains always overpriced. I myself found out just recently, when one of Pancho's big time clients gave him 5 free passes and Pancho said he'll take us all.
We went today and as soon as we entered the parking lot, got our first big surprise. The parking lot was filled. We had to wait for 15-20 minutes before getting to the front of the ticket line, to buy 2 more tickets. We're so caught up by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, I guess, and thought EVERYone would be the same, that we never thought of the possibility of LA having zoo that's legit and decent that people would actually go see it.
The zoo is located at Griffith Park. Entrance at $14 for adults and $9 for kids.
I appreciated these clay molds. So precise.
Lonely bird.
(Heads up: For the life of me, I cannot name all the animals in the photos I have here. Please bear with me. I'm only in love with the animals I've known since pre-school. You know, the safari animals.)
Fake hieroglyphics in a fake cave.
Funny people in a fake cave.
So fascinated by these mosaic animal structures.
You can actually climb on those and have your photo taken.
This little girl just popped out and asked me to take her photo. I don't think she was taught never to talk to strangers.
Cats with prints, that's all I know.
Cool, isn't it?
I appreciate that the zoo added these details that it could have done without.
Water fountain with colorful mosaic-design.
You can wash your hands from this water fountain.
This old person walked past the gate as cooly as he would have in a park and gathered the animals successfully by the feeds he had in his hand. He didn't look distinguishable like the other zoo keepers were and didn't have an ID that we thought he was just a visitor.
Bieni was so jealous.
Bieni the Beaver
Hey, look!
Love these wooden, blue-green windows against the bright orange walls.
So cool.
All the mosaic work above are from this guy, Armando Alvarez.
Leila feeds the Beaded Lizard.
Leila was amused by the lizard lovers as much as we were.
Rat, raccoon, cat, or squirrel.
Swan or goose.
Oh, the lovely flamingoes.
They're really as lovely as lovely gets.
Heart-shaped leaves.
Zebra,
in a contemplative mood.
There are animals that I wish I could sit down and stare at. Zebra is included in this list, as well giraffe. I wonder if it, in its real environment that is in the wild, can run fast. I don't remember ever seeing it, in any media, in a quick action.
This King Gorilla ate his own poop, to the disgusted delight of the onlookers.
This one reminded us of Sisa, the mother of Crispin and Basilio.
Lost and deranged woman!
Hands down, these apes, gorillas or whatever kind of monkey they are, are the biggest crowd-drawers. We all see ourselves in them, mostly clearly in the way they love lazing around
(see above photo).
"When you realize the value of life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future."
Ibex,
an animal I first encountered in the book, "Three Cups of Tea."
Mortenson wrote about how he once assisted a Korphe village boy in a days-long hunt for this wild goat.
Miniature deer with an exaggerated but so elegant neck.
(I already forgot what it's called, but they're sooooo pretty.)
Giraffes!
Gait so graceful.
Neck so poised.
Oh, how I love them.
All the girls in the family.
Male caressing female.
The male is such a flirt, and in wide display!
Our precocious little Leila.
Leila strapped in her bag/leash.
She's so mobile right now and Maica wanted to make sure we wouldn't lose her.
Scarred bamboo stalks.
I think it's part of tourist culture to leave "... was here!" messages on almost any thing!
Black monkeys with white tufts on the top of their heads.
Lonely bird.
This is not the only bird we saw alone in a big cage.
Wooden bridge in the midst of lush bushes.
Ms Moody in the house!
Snow Leopard
Tortoise
This guy was trying to get the Jaguar pissed. And boy was the Jaguar pissed. Not that he can do anything about it. He remains caged.
So tempted to dish out -- er, borrow -- $20 to have my caricature done again. The first time I did, I got duped. The Chinese woman in that busy corner along Times Square in New York pretended I looked exactly the same as my sister Bien and the blonde kid who came before us. Was so pissed.
Another clay structure.
And another.
So stately, don't you think?
(P.S. Don't you just love the play of shadows on this animal statue?)
*** Generally, I am both amused and repulsed by zoos. I wonder how that is possible, but yes.
Once in a mini-zoo at the Tagaytay Highlands, I spent more time than usual with this huge Orangutan (or was that a Gorilla) who looked resigned to his fate in a grilled cage. But when I looked into his eyes, I saw deep sadness. No joke, no exaggeration. It's like he knows where he could have been. It's like he knows he shouldn't be in there. I am still able to stare at giraffes and regal tigers with delight all day, but at the back of my mind is that Orangutan.
He should not be in there.
There's no way a "Stop Going to the Zoo" crusade will ever close it down. What should happen is the recognition that the concept of zoo should never be.
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